1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to pressure reducing valves for reducing the pressure of hydraulic fluid delivered to portions of hydraulic circuits. More particularly, the invention relates to a pressure reducing valve that is more compact and that includes less parts than conventional pressure reducing valves.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pressure reducing valves are commonly used when it is desired to reduce the maximum fluid pressure delivered to a portion of a hydraulic circuit while maintaining a higher fluid pressure to the remainder of the hydraulic circuit. For example, in hydraulic clamping systems, a pressure reducing valve may be interposed between a hydraulic pump or other source of high pressure fluid and one or more clamps. This reduces the fluid pressure delivered to selected clamps while allowing the remaining clamps to operate at a higher fluid pressure, thus eliminating the need for a separate hydraulic pump for each pressure level used.
A problem with prior art pressure reducing valves is that they are typically bulky and therefore require a great deal of space. This is problematic in applications where space is limited such as in clamping operations where numerous clamps requiring different fluid pressure levels may be mounted to a single fixture.
Another problem with prior art pressure reducing valves is that they are not efficiently designed and therefore include a large number of parts. This not only increases the overall size of the valves, which contributes to the problems described above, but also increases the cost and the complexity of the valves.